page_title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye
section_title: US Navy
hierarchical_section_title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye / Operational history / US Navy
caption_attribution_description: English: A US Navy (USN) E-2C Hawkeye 2000 aircraft assigned to the "Wallbangers" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 117 (VAW-117) approaches to land on the flight deck of the USN Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74), while the ship is underway in the Pacific Ocean, conducting carrier qualifications. (Released to Public) DoD photo by: MC3 (SW) JOHN HYDE, USN Date Shot: 13 Jul 2006
context_page_description: The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy as a replacement for the earlier, piston-engined E-1 Tracer, which was rapidly becoming obsolete. The aircraft's performance has been upgraded with the E-2B, and E-2C versions, where most of the changes were made to the radar and radio communications due to advances in electronic integrated circuits and other electronics. The fourth major version of the Hawkeye is the E-2D, which first flew in 2007. The E-2 was the first aircraft designed specifically for its role, as opposed to a modification of an existing airframe, such as the Boeing E-3 Sentry. Variants of the Hawkeye have been in continuous production since 1960, giving it the longest production run of any carrier-based aircraft.
  The E-2 also received the nickname "Super Fudd" because it replaced the WF "Willy Fudd".
context_section_description: The E-2A entered U.S. Navy service on January 1964, and in April 1964 with VAW-11 at NAS North Island. The first deployment was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during 1965.
  Since entering combat during the Vietnam War, the E-2 has served the US Navy around the world, acting as the electronic "eyes of the fleet".
  In August 1981, a Hawkeye from VAW-124 "Bear Aces" directed two F-14 Tomcats from VF-41 "Black Aces" in an intercept mission in the Gulf of Sidra that resulted in the downing of two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22s. Hawkeyes from VAW-123 aboard the aircraft carrier USS America directed a group of F-14 Tomcat fighters flying the Combat Air Patrol during Operation El Dorado Canyon, the joint strike of two Carrier Battle Groups in the Mediterranean Sea against Libyan terrorist targets during 1986.
  More recently, E-2Cs provided the command and control for both aerial warfare and land-attack missions during the Persian Gulf War. Hawkeyes have supported the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Customs Service, and American federal and state police forces during anti-drug operations.
  In the mid-1980s, several U.S. Navy E-2Cs were made available to the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs Service for counter-narcotics (CN) and maritime interdiction operations (MIO). This also led to the Coast Guard building a small cadre of Naval Flight Officers (NFOs), starting with the recruitment and interservice transfer of Navy flight officers with E-2 flight experience and the flight training of other junior Coast Guard officers as NFOs. A fatal aircraft mishap on 24 August 1990 involving a Coast Guard E-2C at the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico prompted the Coast Guard to discontinue flying E-2Cs and to return its E-2Cs to the Navy. The U.S Customs Service also returned its E-2Cs to the Navy and concentrated on the use of former U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft in the CN role.
  E-2C Hawkeye squadrons played a critical role in air operations during Operation Desert Storm. In one instance, a Hawkeye crew provided critical air control direction to two F/A-18 Hornet aircrew, resulting in the shootdown of two Iraqi MiG-21s. During Operations Southern Watch and Desert Fox, Hawkeye crews continued to provide thousands of hours of air coverage, while providing air-to-air and air-to-ground command and control in a number of combat missions.
  The E-2 Hawkeye is a crucial component of all U.S. Navy carrier air wings; each carrier is equipped with four Hawkeyes (five in some situations), allowing for continuous 24-hour-a-day operation of at least one E-2 and for one or two to undergo maintenance in the aircraft carrier's hangar deck at all times. Until 2005, the US Navy Hawkeyes were organized into East and West coast wings, supporting the respective fleets. However, the East coast wing was disestablished, all aircraft were organized into a single wing based at Point Mugu, California. Six E-2C aircraft were deployed by the US Naval Reserve for drug interdiction and homeland security operations until 9 March 2013, when the sole Reserve squadron, VAW-77 'Nightwolves', was decommissioned and its six aircraft sent to other squadrons.
  During Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom all ten Regular Navy Hawkeye squadrons flew overland sorties. They provided battle management for attack of enemy ground targets, close-air-support coordination, combat search and rescue control, airspace management, as well as datalink and communication relay for both land and naval forces. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, three Hawkeye squadrons (two Regular Navy and one Navy Reserve) were deployed in support of civilian relief efforts including Air Traffic Control responsibilities spanning three states, and the control of U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, and Army National Guard and Air National Guard helicopter rescue units.
  Hawkeye 2000s first deployed in 2003 aboard USS Nimitz with VAW-117, the "Wallbangers" (formerly the "Nighthawks"), and CVW-11. U.S. Navy E-2C Hawkeyes have been upgraded with 
caption: A US Navy E-2C of VAW-117 approaches the flight deck of USS John C. Stennis; the aircraft has eight-blade propellers.
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